


Off-Season Snapshots

by Gwendolynn_C



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Divorce, Getting Back Together, Getting Together, Jack and Bitty have three kids and they're minor characters but important because I love them, M/M, Minor Eric Bittle/Jack Zimmermann, closeted kent, slower burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 11:53:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19463440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gwendolynn_C/pseuds/Gwendolynn_C
Summary: Short scenes from the off-seasons of 2024, 2027, 2030, 2033 and 2036Kent and Jack grow up and love it and also love each other





	1. Off-Season 2024

**Author's Note:**

  * For [leetlebird](https://archiveofourown.org/users/leetlebird/gifts).



> First off I want to say a HUGE thank you to the mods of this event, you're amazing and I'm so thankful for you. Kent Parson is so important to me, and I love the influx of fic we get every year on his birthday because of y'all.
> 
> Second, to LeetleBird: I was so excited to get this assignment for you bc I love your fics! I do hope that you like this
> 
> Third, thank you to my sister for beta-reading this, you're a gem.

It happens like this: Bob gets in a car accident. 

He’s fine. 

There’s a horrible, awful twelve hours when no one’s sure what type of story this will be. But he’s fine. And it’s a happy story.

Kenny flew to Montreal during the twelve hours of hell but now he’s sharing one of Bittle’s pies with Bob who’s still laid up in the hospital bed.

“I can feel them talking about me.” Bob grumps, glancing at the door. Jack and Alicia are somewhere in the hall, no doubt talking about him with his doctors.

“They love you.” Kent reminds him.

“They think I’m old.”

“You are.”

Bob flings a bit of blueberry filling at Kent’s cheek.

“Seriously though, Bob. You couldn’t have picked a worse time for this to happen.”

The Zimmermann's had summer 2024 booked years in advance. Alicia had spent the past few years creating a non-profit aimed at ending sex-trafficking, specifically targeting Hollywood and professional sports. This summer was the launch tour and she had events and speaker bookings until mid-September across the US, Canada and Europe. 

Meanwhile Jack and Eric were adding to their little family sometime in the next few weeks. Their older daughter, Millie, was a toddler and now they were expecting twins. Kent didn’t know a lot about babies, but it was obvious their hands would be full until further notice. In fact, Bob had planned to go down to Rhode Island and help  _ them  _ out. Now he was the one in need of care.

“Well you know me, I just have to be a diva.” Bob laughs and then groans and holds his ribs. Kent’s honestly not sure if he’s making a show or not. “But seriously, I hate this. I’m fine, they can send me home with a prescription and I’ll just listen to one of those online radio show podcasts until my concussion clears up and then watch movies for the rest of the summer.”

Kent can think of a million things wrong with that plan off the top of his head, but knows it wouldn’t be wise to bring them up to Bob. He’s on bedrest for a reason. 

“I just don’t want them to hire a nurse to check in on me.” Bob stares blankly at the ceiling. “I don’t want some stranger having keys to my house and coming into my house and my room and touching all my things.”

Bob’s droopy eyebrows are so familiar and sad. Kent’s mind slowly pieces together a slightly crazy, slightly amazing plan.

“I’m not being too picky, am I?” Bob continues. “I don’t want to be difficult but I like my privacy. Surely you understand that, son.”

“Bob… you know I love spending time with you, right?” Kent flashes his best smile and Bob grins conspiratorially in return.

Kent is going to stay the summer in Montreal, taking care of Bob. It really must be a good plan, because Alicia agrees readily. Jack just wants to know his plan about off-season training and Eric, when they call him, insists they get a meal kit service. Otherwise, everyone’s on board - especially Bob. His eyes light up and the wrinkles in his forehead smooth out as he tells Kent about how his plans to learn knitting and do a giant paint-by-numbers while he’s avoiding screen time. Kent feels like the last piece of an important puzzle. He feels needed. It’s like watching a rookie he’s mentored improve, but it’s warmer.

Bob’s released into his family’s care that evening because he’s rich as fuck and hates hospitals. Alicia drives ten km under the speed limit with Bob laid out in the back seat of their car. Kent and Jack follow behind in Jack’s Dad car rental. 

“It’s not a Dad car, not really.” Jack insists. But it looks like he hasn’t slept well in days, so Kent’s gonna keep chirping if that makes Jack keep smiling.

“I count, two sippy cups, a loose diaper that I hope is clean, a car seat and old Timmy’s cups. You used to yell at me for eating on the bus.” Kent exaggerates a shocked gasp. “You’ve evolved into your final form: Papa Jack!”

“I love it.” Jack breathes out and the sincerity sends a chill down Kent’s spine.

Alicia and Bob “downsized” shortly after Jack and Eric got married. Their new place is on half an acre of land, has four bedrooms and five bathrooms and a kitchen big enough to fulfill Eric’s wildest dreams. There isn’t a private rink on the property though, so Kent concedes to calling it “La Maisonnette.”

When they pull up the driveway, Eric’s already waiting outside for them tapping away at his phone. Beside him is Millie, Kent thinks she’s three or maybe four now, and she embodies summer perfectly. It makes Kent ache for the carelessness of being a kid: her red hair is plastered to her sunburnt face, her legs are covered in bug bites, her hands (waving erratically at a grinning Jack) look sticky and brown from something. She’s probably the cutest kid to ever exist, wearing a sparkly pink shirt, orange swim goggles and superman boxer shorts.

Kent trails behind as Alicia and Jack help Bob walk inside. Millie stays behind too and nods satisfactorily when Kent closes the door behind himself.

“My name is Millie, Dad says you’ve met me before. But I don’t remember.”

Kent offers her a fist bump and thankfully she returns it. “I’m Kent, uh, I know your Papa from hockey.”

“I know.”

Kent follows her into the living room and is suddenly extremely grateful he’ll never have kids. Millie manages to come off as both intimidating and helpless which is cool but like… Kent should not be in charge of that. 

Eric must have ordered takeout before they left the hospital, there’s a spread ready for them on the coffee table and Alicia starts making everyone plates. Millie climbs into Jack’s lap, and begins to methodically play with her Papa’s arm hair. First she brushes it to one side, then the other, then pulls at it and then begins again. Jack, the man who used to jump if Kent touched his without warning, doesn’t seem to notice. Jack and Kent haven’t spoken too much over the years. They haven’t spoken too little either, they operate in a happy gray area where there’s no animosity, no affection and no real nostalgia. Kent went to the wedding and Millie’s baby shower. Jack and Eric sent him pie and congratulations when the Aces won the Cup a few seasons ago. They hung out when they visited Vegas for an expo. Jack and Kent collaborated on an article about mental health and sports for You Can Play. Right now, Kent’s sinking into a couch beside the people who love Bob Zimmermann the most. Tomorrow they’ll all be off in different directions but Kent can tell that he’s going to be seeing a lot more of these people in the future.

The first surprise of the summer is that Bad Bob is addicted to Stargate. Kent was tangentially aware that the MacGyver hottie was in some sci-fi show in the 90s. By the end of the summer, Kent had watched SG-1 and Atlantis with Bob and had watched the rest of the universe on his own. Bob has Opinions about Stargate and which series are “trash” and which series are “worth rewatching.” Kent needs to see everything before he finally decides that Bob is correct.

The second surprise of the summer is that ends up hooking up with the mailman. It’s definitely cliche but it’s not like they do it in the mail truck or even when Jerome is working. They cross paths at the grocery store and talk about produce. They swim laps at the same pool and talk about hockey. They meet up in the evenings, in a hotel ten miles from the Zimmermann’s. Jerome is happy to sign an NDA and cuddle after sex.

The third surprise isn’t that Bob asks Kent to come with him to visit Providence, it’s that Kent really, really enjoys himself. The twins are tiny and perpetually swaddled: a yellow blanket for Teddy and a blue blanket for Robin. Millie loves the freedom that having two distracted parents brings and runs wild around the house with her hockey stick. Once, she asks Eric if the twins are going to live with them forever. She seems completely unaffected by Eric’s emphatic “yes” and simply goes back to decorating her high chair with dinosaur stickers. 

“Your family is bizarre.” Kent tells Jack one morning. Jack has Robin (blue blanket) strapped to his chest with some sort of enormous wrap and is making breakfast.

“I actually think we’re normal.”

Kent gives him a strange look and Jack giggles in response.

When they were kids, Jack used to giggle a lot until Kent told him that it made him look gay. It still makes him look gay but Kent wonders if maybe that’s the point.

As usual one thought about his teenage years leads to another and Kent can’t help but bring up another memory. “You know when we were kids and we used to pretend to tell each other’s futures?”

Jack nods and yawns. “I remember predicting that you’d go to an expansion team and show everyone how awesome you were.”

“I remember trying to imagine the best thing that could happen to us but I’d always come up blank.” 

Jack gives him sad eyes but just nods. 

“This is better than my shitty imagination could have come up with.” Kent shrugs. “You got what you wanted.”

Jack grins. “Yeah, I did. You will too.”

When they were seventeen, Kent prodded a not-quite-sober Jack to tell him his greatest fantasy. Jack described the perfect winning goal, handing Kent the Stanley Cup and kissing while the world watched. Kent swallowed the lump in throat and ridiculed Jack for having such a stupid idea. It’s one of those memories Kent isn’t sorry for, but can’t forgive himself for either. 


	2. Off-Season 2027

Kent’s been threatening to retire since he turned twenty-five but it’s after an especially brutal game against the Oilers that the idea starts to feel calming, almost peaceful. He calls Bob about it and they talk for an hour. He calls Jack about it and they talk for four hours. Of course, some of that time is taken up by Millie updating him on the book she’s writing about space aliens who are allergic to pie and the doctor who cures them.

“Jack do you regret retiring last season? Even though everyone said it was too early?”

“Kenny, a long career just wasn’t in the cards for me.” Jack replies. “But I’m so happy with the career I had. You know, hockey is so much more than just the NHL. I’m still very much the jock of the family, just ask Bitty. Apparently 70% of the mess around here is my fault.”

Kent snorts. “Yeah, coaching NCAA sounds really tough, bro. Any chance you’ll coach for the big leagues though? The Aces might have an opening.”

“Don’t ‘bro’ me Kenny.” Jack’s tone sharpens. “I love what I’m doing and it’s important work too. You know that. And coaching in the NHL is just as brutal as being a player. Sure I travel with my girls but I get to watch my kids grow up too.”

“So you think I should retire?” Kent asks. He knows he’s changing the subject abruptly, but he’s hoping to get a more honest reaction out of Jack that way.

“I don’t know Kenny. If it’s a matter of health, then yeah. You shouldn’t run yourself into the ground for the chance at a few more seasons. You could lose hockey forever that way. But like, I retired so that I could  _ do  _ something. What are you going to do when you retire? Do you, uh, have someone?”

Kent takes a while to answer. “Do you… do you think people expect that? For me to settle down after everything so they can watch my perfect life develop the way yours has?”

“My life isn’t perfect.”

“I know.”

They’re both quiet for a minute, Kent can hear some electronic toy singing in the background of Jack’s home. 

“You don’t have to let the spotlight follow you.” Jack says eventually.

It’s exactly what Kent needed to hear.


	3. Off-Season 2030

Kent moves to Colorado, next door to his sister and he deletes all of his social media. Kent learns to play the guitar, learns to garden and starts to keep bees. Kent meditates every morning, goes skating every weekend and does exactly one public appearance a year when he attends the You Can Play conference in Toronto.

Kent speaks about growing up poor, about how the fame and lack supervision never ends well, he speaks about the alcohol and the bullying and the high expectations. He speaks about mental health. Every year he smiles and cries and signs autographs and shakes hands and gives the public a basic update on his life. Every year he avoids talking about LGBT+ issues beyond the superficial and easy to deny support that any straight player would give. 

Jack is, of course, on the board of You Can Play now and is probably the only reason Kent returns each year. Outside of the conference their relationship mainly consists of sending each other memes on Instagram, so it’s nice to see him in person. It’s nice to hang out in his hotel room with a select few other athletes and talk freely about… everything. It’s a little dizzying to drink with guys he used to play against, look up to or mentor and be his honest gay self.

They never ask if he’s going to come out and he doesn’t know how to show gratitude for that kind of gift. He donates a bunch of money and hopes it’s enough.

This year, Jack invites him out to dinner on the last day of the conference. Kent politely declines. They settle on sharing coffee and pie in an empty conference room. 

“Eric’s getting experimental again.” Kent comments through a mouthful of peanut-butter, strawberry and chocolate pastry.

“Millie made this one.” Jack replies. “I’ve gotten a sweet tooth in my old age, I think. Either that or I just can’t believe she can make anything less than delicious.”

Kent can only manage half a slice but he gives Jack a jar of honey to give to Millie anyway.

“How old are the kids again?”

“Millie’s ten and the twins are almost six.” Jack nudges him. “It’s been too long since you’ve been out east. You should visit.”

“I’ll think about it.” 

It’s been so long since they’ve been like this: hiding out in some giant but empty room, drinking bad hotel coffee and just a few floors up their bags are packed and waiting to leave tomorrow. This time, the silence between them is comfortable. Kent doesn’t exactly remember what sex was like with Jack but now he can feel the echo of the desperation, the curiosity, the giddy sadness that brought them together.

“I’m so fucking glad we’re older.” He says.

“I’m so fucking glad I let myself get older.” Jack agrees.

Kent nods. This entire weekend has been a tightrope walk, heavily censoring himself in certain situations and then switching to complete authenticity a few hours later. Closeted Kent in front of the camera, gay Kent in front of Jack and his friends. He wouldn’t have it any other way but his soul aches with confusion and vulnerability.

“There’s a part of me that thinks you’re the only one who could possibly understand me.” Kent confesses. “Because you were there, you know? No one else was there. But… other people have gone through the exact same thing as me.”

Underneath that statement is a slew of related thoughts and emotions and conclusions. He wants to share it with Jack, but he doesn’t want to cross any lines. This is more than memes and birthday cards. And Kent doesn’t know if Jack wants more, he doesn’t know if  _ he  _ wants more, he doesn’t know if they’re allowed more.

Jack touches Kent’s hand. 

It’s so much more that Kent’s brain goes offline for a bit.

“It’s hard to let people in.” Jack says. “It’s been two decades but I’m still dealing with it because that’s just how PTSD works.”

Kent squeezes his hand.

“But you’re right.” Jack grins. “We’re older and it’s… awesome.”

Kent has to grin right back. “It’s so awesome. I wake up late every morning. Some days the only human interaction I have is waving at my neighbors.”

“Oh my god, that sounds like paradise.” Jack replies. “I still wake up to small humans crawling into my bed.”

“Yeah but you love it.”

“Hey Kenny? I’m can’t wait to get even older.”


	4. Off-Season 2033

The first time Kent saw the ocean, he was 16 and on vacation with the Zimmermann’s so he’s always associated the ocean with Jack. It just looks so good on him, especially right now as he’s teaching the Robin to jump the waves. Kent watches them from under the umbrella while Teddy makes a sand castle beside him. Teddy’s an interesting character. He looks the most like Jack: chubby with serious blue eyes and dark hair, but he’s freckled all over. It was over a year and a half ago when Kent got a call from Jack’s phone. Teddy had been on the line. That’s how Kent heard about the divorce. 

Teddy likes hockey but he likes soccer more and he’s really good at chess. He goes to chess championships because apparently that was a thing nine year olds could do. He and his twin sister are fairly inseparable but Robin loves hockey the way Jack does. Kent has to trust that Eric and Jack are smart enough not to let hockey drain her of every wonderful part of her, like it almost had with Jack. Millie is still a wildfire, or she was last time Kent saw her. She’s spending the week with her Dad in Georgia. 

Kent had been a little confused when Jack invited him to the beach for 4th of July week. But now he’s washing up after dinner while Jack’s upstairs guiding the twin pre-teens through showers, hair grooming, tidying up and into bed. He supposes playing nanny/housekeeper for a week is worth it since he gets to hang out with such cool people.

It’s nearly eleven by the time Jack comes downstairs, he’s on the phone and Kent almost leaves but Jack sounds like he’s wrapping up.

“... alright sweetie, be good for your Dad. I love you too. Bye.”

Kent takes one look at Jack’s worn face and shoves the leftover pizza his way. “Everything okay?”

“Well, Millie’s not mad at me anymore.”

“Hey that’s great!”

“She’s pissed at Bitty instead.”

Kent makes a “yikes” noise instead of saying something idiotic.

Jack nods stiffly. “He’s moving to Atlanta. So now we all get to decide who the kids will stay with me during the school year or if they should switch schools and move down south.” He wipes a hand over his face. “Parenting is hard.”

“Well I’m glad I never have to do that.”

“Nah, you’re just the fun Uncle. Thanks, by the way, for spending the week with us. You’re a good distraction.”

“Yeah, well the twins are always up for an adventure.” Kent shrugs.

“You’re a good distraction for me too.” 

Kent eyes Jack carefully. Contrary to everyone’s predictions, he looks less and less like Bad Bob with each passing year. Maybe it’s the scruffy salt and pepper beard or the man bun or the thick framed glasses. Mostly, though Kent thinks it’s Jack’s eyes. Jack doesn’t do big facial expressions or grandiose body language, it’s his eyes that always revealed how he felt: manic, scared, joyful, tired, stressed.

“Hey, look at me.” Kent requests, his voice barely above a whisper.

Jack turns and their gazes lock. Kent’s not exactly sure what he was looking for, hoping for, but it’s not there.

“Wanna watch a movie?” Kent asks.

Jack curls up on the couch his head in Kent’s lap and the movie acts as background music while he opens up.

“I’m starting to feel, I don’t know, excited.” Jack begins. “About this new chapter in my life. I’m worried about my kids, of course I am.”

“An amicable divorce is not the worst thing that could happen to them. You know that right?”

“Yeah. I just don’t know what to do with an angry teenager. I was never this angry when I was Millie’s age. Just… debilitatingly anxious.”

“I was angry.” Kent rubs Jack’s shoulder gently. “I poured it into hockey and emo poetry.”

“And black eyeliner.”

Kent snorted. “Yeah and I bleached my hair too. Fuck, she’s almost at the stage where she’s gonna start experimenting with her appearance.”

“Oh you haven’t noticed the semi-permanent tattoos she and all her friends are getting?” Jack shakes his head. “All I can do is take lots of pictures so we can commemorate all the bad and good and awesome choices she makes.”

“You’re a good Dad.”

“I try.”

They pretend to watch the movie for several minutes. Jack reaches up to hold Kent’s hand, rubbing his thumb over Kent’s knuckles.

“Everyone’s changing, Kenny.” Jack breathes. “It’s good but… I feel this pressure. Like I need to change too. Should I move? Look for a new job? Start dating again? It feels like I’m at the beginning of something new. I just don’t know how to make it happen.”

“Maybe you’re just in a waiting period.” Kent squeezes his hand. “Try to enjoy it. Take lots of pictures of all the bad and good and awesome choices you’re going to make.”

That makes Jack laugh.

“You don’t have to rush the change, Jack.” Kent continues. “It’s like when I see a new plant coming up in the garden. I know something new is growing but I have to wait a little to see what it’s going to be. I just have to let it alone before I know how to help it grow.”

Jack’s asleep.

Kent puts his feet up on the coffee table, mutes the TV and settles in for the night.


	5. Off-Season 2036

Jack laughs when he pulls up to Kent’s home in Colorado for the first time.

“Is that an actual, real life white picket fence?”

Kent grins. “I have to keep the chickens in the yard somehow.”

“You did not get chickens without telling me.” Jack pouts.

“They’re still too young to lay eggs but they’re sweet girls. And don’t give me that face, I didn’t tell you because with all the late frosts we get, I was scared they wouldn’t make it. You’d be heartbroken if they died before you met them.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Jack agrees. “I should have come to visit you years ago.”

Kent shrugs. “Better late than never.”

Kent takes him on a tour and he takes photos of everything: the electric fence that protects the beehives from bears, the antique waffle iron Kent has in his bedroom because it’s cool, the chickens hiding in the flower garden, Kent’s skates by the washing machine, the cats napping in a patch of sunlight.

Jack gently touches the tiny rainbow flag in the pencil cup in the kitchen but he doesn’t take a photo. 

“Millie’s gotten into photography.” Jack explains. “She’s making me a scrapbook of their two weeks in Georgia so I told her I’d make a scrapbook of Colorado.”

“You up for some hiking and camping?” Kent asks. “The sunrise is gorgeous.”

“Let’s do it.”

The first surprise of the summer is that Jack has done research on beekeeping. He’d expected Jack to be interested, but Jack watches from a distance every time Kent goes to check on his bees. Kent orders him his own bee suit and Jack hugs him tightly for it.

“When did you learn so much about bees?”

“After I found out you kept them.” 

Kent’s been keeping bees for eight years, he supposes Jack has been his best friend for at least as long. 

The second surprise of the summer is that Jack plays the guitar too.

“I like learning new things.” He says with a shrug. “I like the feeling of starting a new hobby just because I want to.”

Kent can understand that. When Kent’s sister hosts a cookout, they play together around the bonfire after almost everyone has gone home. Jack borrowed a guitar from one of Kent’s friends and they stumble of some chords together, figuring out how to jam together. Jack’s not very good, he’s only been playing for a few months, but he smiles when he makes mistakes. He looks at Kent proudly when he plays Edelweiss from memory.  _ Look at me,  _ he seems to say  _ I’m forty-six and still learning cool things.  _ Kent understands what his Mom meant about feeling younger than ever when she met her life partner at sixty.

The third surprise of the summer comes three days before Jack flies home. Kent is showing Jack one of his favorite walking trails. Jack still startles when passersby greet him like they’re friends, even though Kent’s explained that people are just like that out here. It’s a slower kind of life than the east coast, there’s a general consensus that it’s important to recognize where you are and the people around you. 

“I thought about cancelling my flight last night.”

The statement hangs in the air for a moment. 

“Can you tell me why, and also what your kids were going to do alone in Rhode Island.”

“In my head, they just came out here for the rest of the summer. They’d love it here you know.” Jack smiles sheepishly. “But I can’t invite three teenagers into your house for you. That’s rude. Also, they miss their friends at home. Also, I have to get back for pre-season.”

“You didn’t say why.” Kent prompts. “Why you wanted to stay and had to talk yourself out of it.”

“This vacation has been perfect.” Jack replies easily. “But I don’t want it to be a vacation.”

“Let’s start walking back.”

The sky had been getting steadily darker for the past hour, Kent had assumed it was later in the day than it was, but when they walk out from the cover of trees they see dark clouds. 

Kent will readily admit that when he was younger, his was calculating and a bit manipulative. Now, those bad habits echo in his indecision. He’s not sure what to admit, which question to ask, how he should express himself, if he’s choosing the healthiest, most respectful route. It results in a lot of silence, lost in thought.

Jack takes his hand, not demanding anything, just reminding Kent of his presence. Jack’s come up against this before in the form of radio silence, stuttered rambling over Skype calls and long silences over the phone. Kent supposes they’ve learned that it’s best to just wait it out. 

As usual, Kent doesn’t really come to a conclusion about the right thing to say. The strongest emotion simply bubbles up until he says something unexpected and honest.

“I love you, Jack.”

He feels a raindrop on his hand, head, shoulder. More silence.

“I don’t want this to be a vacation either.”

Jack squeezes his hand. “I want this, I want you to be a part of my life.”

Kent has to close his eyes and breathe slowly. He has to check in with his heart, pumping at a million beats a minute but so, so, peacefully.

The rain is coming quicker now, he feels it on his nose, back, arm, cheek, neck. They should run home before they get soaked.

When he opens his eyes Jack is standing in front of him, eyes filled with joy, laughter, pride. He leans down to kiss Kent tentatively.

Jack’s words run through his mind on repeat.  _ I want this, I want you to be a part of my life.  _

He sighs into the kiss and lets Jack hold him close. He tugs Jack closer by his belt loops and kisses him through the downpour. 

Jack pulls away first. “Can you take us home? I’m actually lost in all this rain.”

Kent giggles and tugs him along. 

When they get inside, Kent puts on a kettle for tea while Jack fetches them dry clothes. They strip in the kitchen, exchanging sweet kisses and giggles as they redress.

“I love you too, Kenny.” Jack whispers into his wet hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all folks. Head on over to the tumblr for the KP birthday bash for more awesome stuff!


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